Simpang Asia UPDATE - Los Angeles

“10 Things I Hate About You” is THE movie for teens of my generation, and Bianca Stratford said it best: “I like my Skechers but I LOVE my Prada backpack.” 

I like Mr. Sate but I LOVE Simpang. Simpang is LA’s Prada backpack of Indonesian food, and now thanks to lockdown, they deliver AND they deliver. 

Start with some Chicken Sate because you simply have to. The chicken is juicy and the peanut sauce is right on.

Tahu Tempeh Goreng is wedges of sauce-soaking fried tofu interspersed with bean-textured nuggets of firmly earthy tempeh. Very different and equally good. 

Never skip the Roti Paratha, and order two per person if you can. The bread is a shroud of a thousand fluffy layers, soft and chew inside to counter a crispy crust.  Dunk in a drinkable dip of curry for maximum addictive effect.

The Laksa features a sweet yellow curry, more soupy than dippy, with ropy yellow noodles. Seafood speaks through a surplus of calamari, fish balls, and shrimp, and the result tastes like a swim through the sea. 

Char Kway Teow may have been my other, other, other favorite because everything here is my favorite. The wide wok noodles are perfect, and they are simultaneously sweet and savory with slightly surprising notes of fish balls and shrimp. 

                 

You haven’t had nasi bungkus until you’ve had this Nasi Bungkus. They must have cooked it extra long because banana leaves infuse their aroma into every tiny grain of rice. The curried chicken melts into the rice beneath and fuses with a bolder beef rendang. A fried egg adds to the experience, and the veggie curry is runny and rich. 

A colorful menu at Simpang, as sweet and savory yellows blend with earthy browns to brighten up the beiges of the concrete that comprises yet another subtle strip mall. This part of LA may not look exciting but don’t judge a city by it’s concrete. In the case of Simpang, that concrete conceals some of the best food in the city.

Simpang Asia - Culver City

The valet lost my car. Just HOW they managed to lose one of the five cars they parked in a lot that has less than 20 spaces is beyond me, but this was no ordinary FAIL. For starters, they placed my keys with the wrong ticket, and I wish I hadn't told them as much. Considering my car is legally an adult, this error might have earned me a free upgrade. 

Well, the nice thing about a small parking lot is that it's not so hard to spot my car. Found it! Except they didn't believe me so it took several minutes of arguing to convince them to shut up and test the keys.

They did eventually find my car, and despite the hassle from their private valets, I can't hold any of it against the restaurant. Major lapse of judgement in hiring, but that's where the subpar service stops. The staff are awesome, and there was not a single person who isn't smiling, not a single person who isn't genuinely happy to help. 

I'm very new at Indonesian food, but their Chicken Sate will put a smile on anyone's face. The chicken is tenderly grilled, and the peanut sauce is uniquely thick and sweet.

The Batagor is like nothing I've ever had, a street food that has managed to escape the mainstream. The chewy fried-tofu wrapper has a firm bean-curd texture, which soaks in more of their signature peanut sauce. If you don't like fish, you may want to look elsewhere, but here the fish makes the denser chicken finish light and sweet. A lot of different flavors in one place, but every flavor has its place.

I expect southeast Asian curries to be sweeter, but the Laksa is a different kind of sweet. The soup is yellow and thick, the texture of a concentrated coconut milk. The saccharine curry complements the shrimp that stews in it, and it beads upon each ropy yellow noodle.  

The Bihn Goreng Special lightens things up a little, with al dente rice noodles, fine strands of spice snaring chunks of shrimp and balls of beef and fish. The medium-level heat is cooled by a bit of crunchy cabbage and greens. Asian sausage adds its extra savor, and bits of egg keep the noodles moist.

The food delicious but you gotta have a car to put your leftovers in when you're ready to leave. There was not a single bite that didn't resonate and tingle, and just basking in the undeniable joy that permeates this place warmed me from the inside out. If my car had stayed lost, I would probably walk right back in to eat more. The food here is not to be missed, but it probably wouldn't hurt to try to park your own car and park it somewhere else.